Lunch With George!

Virtual Press Conference

We had been attempting to prepare for months-- receiving a page of clues via e-mail or the web every week. At the start of the hunt, each carload (I should say "vanload") received an audio CD with the clue meant to help us find the first site in the hunt. We also received a large map, and a key to the map. On the map, over 30 sites were marked with an address and a code, and the key associated the codes (e.g., "A", "AA") with an image. We also received a bag of various items which might or might not be helpful in our quest.

Once we arrived at a site (indicated by a small orange wooden stake at the curb), one member of our team colleccted a tag to prove we had been there, and the rest of the team attempted to solve the puzzle presented at the site. Once we solved it, it produced our clue for the next site, and so on. The objective is to visit all of the sites in as short a time as possible.

The theme of this year's treasure hunt was Spies, real and imagined. The clue sheets we received in the weeks leading up to the hunt provided very little to work with-- each contained 10 clues that were either cryptic phrases, seemingly unrelated images, or even bizarre audio clips. Any clues that could be deciphered gave you a person or subject that you probably need to know more about.

Here are some examples of clues we received:

• Lady with the limp
• UNIVEX
• Greeting Card Salesman

The clues were frustrating but fun, but they were nothing compared to the sites themselves. The team that put the treasure hunt together (the winners from the previous year) really did a marevelous, creative job!

Here are a few examples:

1. We arrived at this particular site to discover an unusual table. There were three strange devices, one at each end of the table, and one in between these two. All three were securely attached to the table. The one on the left had a switch which, when engaged, caused a red laser beam to shine directly toward the other two objects. The center object was a coffee can painted black, and the objevt on the right, well, it looked a little bit like an old slide viewer with a built-in screen.

   One of the clues had been "How Do You Bend Light?", so we used two mirrors to re-direct the laser beam (yes, it was a real laser!) around the coffee can. When the beam struck the receptor on the object on the right, it sprang to life, providing both video and audio.

   The screen showed a B-52 in flight with one of NASA's lifting bodies from the 60's under it's wing. The lifting body launched, and then during it's own flight, the pilot radioed, "I can't hold it-- she's breaking up, she's breaking up!" It was the opening scene from The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors. We ran for the van, because we all remembered a photo of Lee Majors associated with the map. On to the next site!

2. My favorite was an elaborate setup on the back patio of a house. There was a table and chair, some items on the table, and a strange glass cone hanging over the chair. I volunteered to sit down, and we lowered what certainly seemed to be the Cone of Silence (from Get Smart) down over my head. Nothing happened... but then I noticed a phone number posted on the inside of the cone!

   There was a man's black leather dress shoe on the table... hmm... let's turn it over. Yep! It's a shoe phone! The designers had somehow placed a cordless phone inside the shoe. I dialed the phone number, and received a recorded message telling us the clue for the next site: Who said, "I regret I have but one life to give for my country?"

   Naturally, it was Nathan Hale, a spy for the Americans during the Revolution. One of the visual clues associated with the map was a combination of a photo of a restaurant sign "NATHAN'S" and a letter code: "METAR/GR". This code had appeared in the clues we received a few weeks earlier. "METAR" is an hourly weather report code for pilots, and @quot;GR@quot; indicates a certain type of precipitation: HAIL. We had a match, so off the the next location!

3. We found one site that completely confounded us. It took us a 10 minutes to actually locate the details of the site, which turned out to be several origami birds hanging in a tree. We had no clue! We decided we needed to use an unofficial "lifeline"... Corey phoned his girlfriend who just happened to be in Canada on vacation! She hopped on the internet and did a search for us, but unfortunately, didn't find anything (we later found out it was from the movie Balistic starring Antonio Bandaras and Lucy Liu-- it seems that Lucy's character was always makign origami birds, and even created a mobile).

The evening ended at the final destination-- The Emerald Room. This banquet-facility-for-hire was the location of the post-hunt brunch. We ate from a decent buffet, and listened while each site was discussed and the final standings were announced. I didn't get home until after 1:00am, but I sure hope to do it again next year.